


rough cuts vs realism

by sheriffandsteel



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, F/M, Modern Westeros, Reality TV, and yes I loved it, yes I did write this for only (1) person, yes it is valid, yes that person is me, yes the show this fic is based off of is over a decade old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25094140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheriffandsteel/pseuds/sheriffandsteel
Summary: Arya knew there wasn't a lot of reality in reality TV but she had still somehow assumed that when her season of Endurance aired the thing the viewers took away from it was that she was way stronger than she looked.Too bad the producers had a different plot in mind.
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Comments: 62
Kudos: 177
Collections: Still Rowing: A Gendrya Centric Fanfic Collection





	rough cuts vs realism

**Author's Note:**

> Endurance was a TV show that aired back in the early 2000s. Obviously I do not expect you to be familiar with it.  
> I changed a few things about the show for this fic, mainly the age range and the prize. For the purposes of the fic contestants are ages 18-26 and they are competing for a cash prize of 100k to be split between the winning team.  
> For the game ten men and ten women are taken to a remote location to compete in various challenges of endurance. 
> 
> The game format is as follows: 
> 
> RIGHT TO STAY: the first day all contestant compete in a challenge and the first four to fail are eliminated from the game  
> TEAMS: The remaining players compete in a challenge to get a partner of the opposite sex. They then compete in another challenge with their partner to be assigned a group color.  
> ENDURANCE MISSION: A test of skill the teams play, winning team gets a pyramid piece and a Samadhi.  
> SAMADHI: A handicap that can be given to any of the other teams, usually a time delay or something to make their next challenge harder.  
> PYRAMID PIECES: Fourteen pieces total, the winning team possess all fourteen.  
> TEMPLE MISSION: Team that comes in last has to go to the Temple of Fate and the winning team picks the team that will compete with them.  
> TEMPLE OF FATE: Basically rock, paper, scissors but called water, wood, fire. Team that looses two out of three games immediately goes home, winning team gets to keep playing. The team sent home gets to leave their pyramid pieces to any team they want.  
> FINAL CHALLENGE: Final two teams use their pyramid pieces in a shell like guessing game. A group of pyramids are on a table and one of them has a golden pyramid hidden under it. The teams place pieces by which pyramid they think the gold one is under and which ever team has a piece by that pyramid wins all the pieces on the table. There are three pyramids to start the game, and one more is added every round thereafter. The team that gets all the pyramid pieces wins the challenge, the game and the grand prize.
> 
> If you made it this far into reading this thing you should know that I love you for taking a chance to read this AU that I spent a lot of time on it considering how specific it is. Enjoy!

She was drunk when she submitted the tape. 

She was drunk when she filmed it too but since that was blindingly obvious to anyone who watched even five seconds of it Arya didn’t feel the compulsive need to point that part out. 

It was Bran’s fault really. Their parents liked to act like Arya was the problem child but whenever she got into serious trouble Bran was always the key instigator. The audition tape was no exception. 

They’d just returned to the hotel after Aunt Lysa’s third wedding in as many years and both of them were more than a little tipsy from the open bar, or as Arya liked to call it ‘the only reason to attend these suckfests’. They were waiting for Sansa to join them but she’d been pretty busy flirting with Margaery Tyrell when they left so Arya wouldn’t put money on her returning to the room that night. 

“She’s such a bitch.” Arya groaned, falling face first onto the bed and no doubt smearing the makeup her sister had worked so painstakingly on. 

“Sansa? Don’t be mad at her for having more game than you.” Bran laughed as she threw her shoe at him. 

“Aunt Lysa.” Arya clarified her voice muffled by the bed she was shoving her face into. “She told me _again_ that no one likes girls that are stronger than they are.” 

“That’s such sexist bullshit.” Bran agreed as Arya heard rattling from the minifridge. Grinning she shoved herself up to sitting as Bran tossed her a mini bottle of gin. In what would be the first of many bad decisions that evening Arya unscrewed the cap and downed it as quickly as possible. 

“I just wish I could prove her wrong.” Arya grumbled, tossing the empty bottle into the trashcan and holding up her arms in a cheer when it landed. 

“You don’t have too; everyone knows she’s full of shit.” Bran reminded her while tossing her another bottle. 

“Yeah I know. I just wish there was something I could do to be like, see Aunt Lysa these people _know_ I’m strong and they like me because of it.” Arya huffed and pointed at Bran to cut him off when he opened his mouth. “And don’t say my family likes me because I’m strong, it doesn’t count cause you guys like me when I’m not strong too.” 

“I’m getting confused by what strong you mean now.” Bran admitted as he finished emptying the contents of the fridge into his lap. Arya felt a pang of worry at the thought of that bill but she was just fuzzy enough from the alcohol to be able to brush it away easily. “Do you mean strong like emotionally or strong like you could kill a man with your bare hands?” 

“Both!” Arya cried, throwing her arms up and sloshing some of the vodka out of her new bottle and onto the floor. She frowned down at the dark spot on the carpet before licking a droplet off her hand. “That’s my point, why do I have to choose? Why can’t Aunt Lysa just accept I don’t fit into her dainty idea of femininity?” She sighed and chugged the bottle in her hands, drunk enough now that she no longer winced at the burn in her throat. “I just wish there was some way I could tell her to go fuck herself that wouldn’t piss mom off.” 

“Hmm.” Arya looked over at Bran surprised to see him lost in deep thought. She was just about to ask him to toss her another bottle when he looked up at her with a devious grin that she knew from experience meant trouble for her. “I might have an idea.” 

\---------------------------- 

There were two types of people who stared on Endurance, those that looked super muscular and sporty and were sure to play the games well and those who made for good TV. During her tenure on the show Arya had managed to convince herself that she had been chosen among hundreds of thousands of contestants because she fit into the first category. She even manages to hold onto that certainty after she returns home and in the months that followed before the show starts. When the season premiere airs Arya is more than a little shocked to realize how wrong she’s been. 

The first half of the first episode is dedicated to getting to know this year's contestants. They show a clip of each of their audition tapes and then flash to a shot or two of them on the boat that had taken them to that year’s location, sometimes with a voiceover to accompany about how sure they were they’d win. Each contestant gets no more than a few minutes focus on them until they reach the end. Until they reach Arya where they play not a few seconds or a minute of her audition tape. 

They play the whole damn thing in all three minutes and twenty-four seconds of its terrible, gut roiling glory. 

“I can’t fucking watch this.” Arya groans barely resisting the urge to place her fingers over her eyes as she glares at her image on Bran’s laptop screen. 

The laptop was balanced precariously on their laps as they squish together on Bran’s tiny dorm bed. They’d have had more space (not to mention comfort) watching on the big screen in their parent’s living room with the rest of the family but Arya had wanted to start watching the season where it had begun for her; drunk with her little brother and questioning all of her life choices. 

In response to her obvious distress Bran turns the volume up louder. 

“My name is Arya Stark, I’m twenty-one years old and I’m from Winterfell.” drunk Arya on screen says confidently, her voice just a hair’s breath away from being called a slur. “I was a professional fencer for six years and am a two-time world champion gold medal winner.” (Arya slumps down lower as she watches her prior self make a fencing motion at the camera. Since there was nothing in her hand it just looks like a weird spasm.) 

“I want to be on Endurance, not cause of fame or glory or even the chance at 50k’s worth of gold dragons.” (Drunk Arya’s make-up wasn’t as messed up as she’d feared, if there was one bright side to be found in this video it was that Sansa’s skills with a makeup brush truly transcended everything) 

“Here we go.” Bran, being the absolute traitor that he is turns the volume up higher as Arya slumps so far down on the bed she is half hanging off of it. Bran pulls the laptop fully into his lap in a good bit of forethinking since Arya doubts she’ll make it through this without ending up on the ground if they air the whole thing. 

She closes her eyes as herself on the screen continues, entirely too confident and happy considering what she was said next was about to be broadcast to hundreds of thousands of viewers, including the person she was about to- 

“I want to be on Endurance to tell my Aunt Lysa to go fuck herself.” 

Oh, would you look at that she was on the floor now. 

“They bleeped out the word.” Bran’s comforting voice needs a lot of work and a considerably less amount of giggles. It doesn’t help that you could hear him giggling over the TV’s speakers too, he’d barely managed to hold himself together to finish filming the video. When she’d finished her tirade and he’d stopped filming they’d both collapsed into laughter that lasted so long Arya nearly threw up. 

If only Sansa had come into the room then all of this would have been avoided, the video would have just been something Arya and Bran laughed about in the morning before deleting and only bringing up when they wanted to annoy Robb with how many inside jokes they had. But no, Sansa had spent the night in Margaery’s room and Arya and Bran had somehow managed to sober up enough to remember all the necessary information for the application and submitted her name and the fucking video to Endurance. They’d laughed about it in the morning, thinking nothing would come of it. 

Three months later Arya got an email telling her she was in the candidate pool and she’d gone and gotten the physical and tests they’d required still thinking she never would actually get chosen. Even when she was boarding the plane Arya had told herself that just because she was on the show didn’t mean anyone would ever see her audition video. 

Arya buries her head in her arms as she listens to herself ramble on the TV and realizes how wrong she’d been. 

It was a pretty good ramble she has to admit, she brought up her aunt’s sexist views of the world and how women shouldn’t have to fit into a one size fits all mold. It sounded more coherent than Arya remembers herself being at the time but at the heart of it, it was still a drunken tirade where she mentioned wanting to tell her Aunt to fuck herself, not once, not twice, but _four_ separate times. 

Well considering the fact that she is currently watching the show from the Eyrie, Arya has certainly told her now. 

She hears the sound of a commercial playing and lets out a string of curses, making no move to get up from the ground. 

“Aunt Lysa’s going to kill you.” Bran tells her very unhelpfully from above her. Arya flips him off in response, groaning as her phone begins to ring where she’d left it on the bed. Bran starts laughing and tosses her phone down onto her stomach. “If mom doesn’t do it first.” 

\---------------------------- 

Arya spent the whole boat ride to the island gripping the railing and staring across the sea like she could will the island to appear before her. Her whole body felt like a bundle of nerves and she had never wished she could make a vehicle move faster as she did then. She could hear voices behind her and knew that her follow competitors (and potential partner) where all talking and making friends and possibly even alliances but Arya couldn’t bring herself to care and contribute. Four of them would be back on this very boat that evening, Arya didn’t see the point in trying to strike up allies until after that happened. No point in making a connection only to be disappointed this afternoon. 

When they arrived at the island they were greeted by their host, Tom Sevenstreams, and given a tour of the hut where they’ll be sleeping in. There were only sixteen beds so they were all forcibly reminded that not all of them will spend even a single night on the island. No one unpacked, leaving their bags clustered by the door as they followed Tom back down to the beach to fight for the Right to Stay. 

While some of the others were grumbling that they hadn’t even been given the chance to explore Arya was grateful that they were getting right to the first challenge. She wouldn’t have been able to relax enough to explore. She needed to at least make it onto a team. She couldn’t imagine making it to the island only to go home that first day. 

The challenge, End of the Rope, was simple enough. A metal structure was set up in the water with ten ropes hanging from it. There was a knot at the end of the rope and a long metal bench at the top of the ropes. The contestants were to climb down the rope until their feet hit the knot and then hold on. The first two men and the first two women to let go would be eliminated, everyone else got to stay another day. 

Arya tried to hide her annoyance when the men were chosen to go first. Although this did give her a chance to observe what strategies did and didn’t work so maybe it was a blessing. Some of the girls cheered beside her, rooting for this male or that but Arya stayed silent, her eyes scanning the figures clutching the ropes searching for trembling hands and legs. 

The first one didn’t even fall until twelve minutes in. Arya was surprised when they did because she’d been busy watching the tallest of their number, a dark-haired man whose name she hadn’t bothered to learn yet. He’d been leaning away from the rope, stretching his whole body in a move that made Arya’s heart leap into her throat, convinced he was going to fall. Instead, a small blonde at the end of the line hit the water and the dark-haired man curled back around the rope, looking the steadiest out of all of them. 

At the twenty-minute mark another person fell and the eight men remaining on the ropes cheered before jumping into the water. Arya felt her stomach tense as she stood and followed the other women out to the structure. The metal was cold under her bare legs and the wind wiped hairs from her ponytail to flip into her eyes. Tom called for them to start and Arya felt a flash of panic that she was going to miss the rope and fall into the water immediately but she doesn’t, her hands grip the rope and she inched her way down until her feet hit the knot. Taking a deep breath Arya wrapped her arms around the rope until she could grip her elbows and tucked her head into the crook of her arms. 

One thing she hadn’t picked up on when she watched from the shore was how loud everyone else was. The women kept talking around her, calling out encouragement or complaining about cramps or slipping. Arya considered telling them to stop wasting their breath before reminding herself none of the girls would be her partner, they were all her competition. She didn’t need to encourage them. 

She didn’t look up at the first splash, didn’t even move. Her legs were just starting to quiver when Tom called out the fifteen-minute mark. Feeling a crick in her back Arya decided to take a chance and do what she’d observed the dark-haired man do. Finally lifting her head Arya slowly blinked at the light of the sun coming off the water. Once her eyes were adjusted, she moved her hands to grip the rope and slowly leaned backwards, feeling what had to be every bone in her spine pop at the movement. 

“Please fucking fall so I can get down.” the girl next to her mumbled making Arya grin as she straightened and rewrapped her arms around the rope. 

“Won’t be long now.” Arya assured her, the first words she’d spoken to anyone since she’d said her name at the introductions on the boat. 

The girl groaned in response and tightened her hold on the rope as Arya tucked her head back into her arms. Arya wasn’t sure how much time passed after that but eventually a shout and a splash sounded and the girls began to cheer and drop off the ropes. 

Arya opened her eyes slowly and looked up in time to see the girl who’d asked her to fall beam at her before letting go. A thrill ran through Arya’s body as she realized she was officially, truly in the game and she let go, falling backwards into the water with a cheer. 

\---------------------------- 

Watching the show Arya is surprised to see how much steadier she was on the rope than any of the other women. Even Brienne trembled and moved more than she did. Arya was like a statue dangling on the end of that rope, except for her one stretch (the boldest move any of the girls did) she didn’t move at all. 

It made what happened that night piss her off even more in retrospect. 

\---------------------------- 

“Who do you want for your partner?” 

It was the question on everyone’s lips that night as they all claimed one of the sixteen beds in the hut and started to unpack and spread out their stuff. A few of the contestants seemed weary to change in front of so many people (not to mention the four cameras Arya spotted in the corners) but she’d stopped being shy about eight locker rooms ago. She was in dry clothes before any of the rest of them had even blinked and stretched out on her top bunk, looking up at the clear tarp that poised as their ceiling. 

There were eight men left in the game, eight potentials for partners. Arya had finally bothered to learn and retain everyone’s names but she wasn’t sure who she wanted as a partner yet. Having watched one game wasn’t enough to give her an opinion on how they would play but watching them interact with each other was giving her better insight to who they were as people. 

She didn’t join in on the conversation, content instead to just observe and learn. Arya wasn’t surprised when they did a poll to see who the favorites were for partner choices. The top three for males were Daario, Renly and Gendry, of the three the rope stretcher she now knew to be Gendry was the only one Arya thought she could actually work with. The poll showed her how much partner choosing came down to just looks and personality because in her opinion Grey should have been on that list since he’d been so steady on the ropes, but he was quiet and withdrawn and so everyone overlooked him. 

Knowing that it shouldn’t have surprised her when they did it to her too. 

When the guys voted on their favorite partner choices, Arya wasn’t in the top three. She wasn’t even in the top _five_. In fact, once they’d all listed their choices the only one less wanted than Arya was mousey Roslin Fray who’d already said twice that coming there was a mistake and she wanted to go home. 

Arya grit her teeth in annoyance and tried to pretend she wasn’t hurt. Podrick had already recognized her and spilled on her being a gold medalist and she still was ranked nearly dead last as a contender? She didn’t really want to be partners with any of these men if they were only going to play the game based off their dicks. 

In the end the only two who didn’t list their choices for perfect partner that night were Arya and top three choice Gendry, probably because he knew he'd get whatever partner he wanted whether he said it or not. 

\---------------------------- 

“You won’t be cussing out any other members of our family tonight will you?” Catelyn asks delicately as the opening credits began to run on episode two. 

Arya shoots her a wry grin before taking a slow sip of her drink. For being underage Rickon could make a damn good martini. “I don’t know Mom; it depends on what the editors chose to use.” 

Catelyn sighs and Ned puts an arm around her shoulder in comfort, clearly trying to hide his grin in her hair. 

\---------------------------- 

Of course, they could talk all they wanted to about who their perfect partner was, the reality was that none of them actually got to choose. 

Instead it was left to fate, or more accurately numbered balls that dropped down on them from vats filled with water, soaking all of them and making the balls slip from their hands for them to scramble them up from the sand. 

To add a twist the two balls that dropped at the same time weren’t always the same number. 

Arya managed to keep a hold of one of the balls in the third drop, catching a face full of ocean water and an elbow to the gut in the process. She took her number four ball and went to go sit on the sidelines with the others with numbers while the process went on. The second four ball didn’t drop until two turns later and Tommen Baratheon narrowly avoided fending off Dickon Tarly to emerge with it. 

She hadn’t bothered to rank her partner choices even to herself but if she had Tommen would have been somewhere around the middle. He wasn’t built like most of the other guys, he aired more towards wiry than lean, but his personality didn’t make Arya want to claw his eyes out so she figured they could make this work. He only had a few inches on her in height which Arya supposed might end up being a disadvantage to them but until that problem came up, she was just going to ignore it. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other and by the end of it Arya’s pretty confident they’ll make a good team. Nothing about Tommen rose any red flags and when she suggested that they race to find out which of them was faster Tommen not only agreed easily but didn’t pout when she thoroughly beat him. 

She could work with Tommen, hell by the time the day was over she even liked Tommen. Still, when they got back to the hut that evening and all anyone wanted to talk about was whether they’re happy with their partners or not Arya found the hut way too small all of a sudden. During a particularly loud debate between Daario and Arianne she slipped out the door and headed for the beach. 

One of the production crew followed her with a camera because this was a reality TV show of course (not that she could ever forget that with the micpack bumping against her hip with every step and the cameras shoved in her face everywhere she went). Arya tried to ignore them and focused on the beautiful sunset in front of her as she stretched her sore muscles in the sand. She stayed out there until the sun dropped below the horizon and the cameraman behind her told her his shift was over so would she please return to the hut? 

\---------------------------- 

Barely any of this makes it into the show. They show the game of course, and who ends up as partners but her and Tommen weren’t anywhere close to the showworthiness that is the drama filled shouting match Arianne, Daario and Dickon put on with Val laughing and egging them on in the background. 

Arya doesn’t understand why they put so much focus on her audition tape last week. So far, according to this episode she is barely in the show. 

Or at least that’s what she thinks until the screen cuts away from the shouting match in the hut and back to the beach where Arya sits with her arms wrapped around her legs only now there is someone sitting beside her. 

Tensing Arya sits up straight, ignoring the curious look Sansa casts her. She has an idea what is about to happen on screen and it had most definitely not happened the night the show was pretending it did. Likely some editor had caught the fact that she’d been wearing the same clothes (which of course she was, they’d only been allowed one backpack each. By the time she left the island she wanted to burn her clothes rather than wear any of them again) and decided to use it to their advantage. 

Gendry sits beside her on the sand and seeing them side by side Arya is struck once again by how much bigger he is than her. With the sun setting over the water in front of them the shot looks positively romantic which Arya has an uneasy feeling is what the show was going for. 

“You never said who you’d choose as your perfect partner.” Gendry says, running sand through his fingers. 

Arya scoffs to herself as she watches, according to the show this is her and Gendry’s first interaction and they were just going right for it huh? She hopes the viewers will be smart enough to see right through it but considering how all her family is leaning forward in their seats with their eyes glued to the screen she doubts it. 

“Cause I didn’t have one.” Arya admits with a shrug before turning to look at Gendry, one eyebrow raised and voice slightly mocking. “Who was yours?” 

Gendry doesn’t hesitate, he just looks at her with those bright impossible blue eyes and says a single word, “You.” 

Arya’s heart drops into her stomach and her whole family fucking explodes. 

\---------------------------- 

Everyone was uneasy the next morning knowing that two more of them would leave that day. Today they would fight for team colors and whichever team didn’t get one would go home. 

They didn’t really have any time to strategize as they’d barely woken up for the day when Tom was at the door to the hut and calling them outside. 

Each of the teams were tied together and had to unravel their cords and run to one of seven different circles of colors. Tommen and Arya proved quickly that they worked well together because while everyone else was shouting at each other about which way to go Tommen let Arya take the lead and they made good enough time to finish second. 

With only the green circle taken by Missandei and Grey and everyone else still tangled up Tommen and Arya actually had time to choose their color rather than racing to the nearest circle like everyone else had to do once they got their ropes free. They stood on their gray circle and watched as their competition tripped and fell over each other. 

Arya watched each group like hawk, looking for any weaknesses and she found plenty. Arianne and Dickon were both too head strong to let the other lead, Roslin to timid to speak up when Gendry got her hair tangled in the cords, Podrick so clumsy he knocked him and Brienne both to the ground. Daario was apparently almost as interested in staring at Val’s tits as he was playing the game. Gilly and Renly refused to listen to each other and ended up tying themselves into a knot. 

After several minutes of watching people trip and stumble over each other until the cords fell from their waists all seven colors were taken and Gilly and Renly were left colorless. Arya felt a surprising flash of panic, they were only three days in and already a third of their number was gone. She’d known that the timeline on Endurance went fast, it was how it aired twice a year instead of just once, but still knowing and seeing it happen were two different things. 

Arya cast a sideways glance at Tommen later that evening as the seven teams accepted their first pyramid pieces. She really hoped that he was up for the challenges to come. She wasn’t ready to leave yet, she needed to stay. 

More importantly for the sake of her pride, she needed to win. 

\---------------------------- 

The third episode somehow manages to stretch the ten-minute color challenge into an hour-long episode. Most of it is devoted to confessionals, nearly all of them about their partners. Arya is touched when Tommen gives a two-minute-long praise of her and how excited he is to have her as a partner. Arya winces when they show her (mandated and nearly always brief) confessional. 

“Tommen’s not a bad partner. Could have been worse.” she shrugs and runs her hands through her hair, knocking off some of the sand that never fully seemed to be off her skin until she’d been home for a week. 

“Could have been better too I suppose but no use crying about it now.” 

Arya winces and slumps lower in her seat as her mother tuts disapprovingly at her and Robb kicks her leg lightly. 

“I’m an ass I know.” she sighs, pulling her hood on and tightening the strings as if her sweatshirt is a turtle shell and she can burrow into it if she only tries hard enough. 

Thankfully the show cuts to yet another showdown between Daario and Dickon and no one thinks to ask Arya who she’d been referring to as a better partner. 

Gods know she is sick to death of that question. 

Having already lived through the drama on screen once Arya digs her phone out of her pocket. The very long NDA she’d signed said she could (and was in fact encouraged) to post about events on the show once they’d aired. The contestants had all even been contractually obligated to follow each other and not unfollow anyone until the show is over. They even had to follow the four who hadn’t made it past the first day (which is fine with Arya, she absolutely lives for Lyanna Mormont’s twitter smackdowns, the girl could end someone’s whole career with 280 characters). The downside is that she can’t unfollow him, not that she’s entirely sure she wants to. 

**Arya Stark** @lonewolf 

@littlelionboy _sorry for being a dick to you on national television_

**Tommen Baratheon** @littlelionboy 

_Lol no worries u said worse to my face which will probs also be on national tv_

RT @lonewolf 

**Arya Stark** @lonewolf 

_Spoilers._

RT @littlelionboy 

Ignoring Theon and Robb arguing over whether or not Val or Daenerys is prettier Arya scrolls through twitter mindlessly as the argument in front of her and the one on the TV battles for loudest volume. She rolls her eyes at the majority of what her former competition and now costars (reality TV was weird that way) post and she is just about to exit the app when a post catches her eyes and she feels her breath hitch in her throat. 

**Gendry Waters** @bullheadedwaters 

_My sisters made me tell them (i.e. break a very EXPENSIVE nda) what color my team got so we could match and they could take this picture. I hope my potential fine was worth it_ @bellebella @myaaa 

Attached is a picture of him with three beautiful dark-haired girls, two close to his age and one Arya knows has just turned seven. All four of them are dressed head to toe in blue. The color makes the blue of Gendry’s eyes even brighter and even through the screen his gaze seems to pierce straight into hers. 

Arya throws her phone onto the table with a noise of disgust. She’s been watching Gendry on her TV for three weeks now and it had no effect on her but one new picture has her heart racing like a rabbit being chased. 

She curls her knees up to her chest and tugs her oversized hoodie down over her legs. 

Time to go full turtle mode. 

\---------------------------- 

Even though she knew it was corny and overrated Arya also knew it was true, she didn’t come on a reality show to make friends. So, she didn’t. She has Tommen who she basically has to be friends with and she liked Brienne well enough but they were competing so they couldn’t get too close. She figured they could try to strike up a friendship when the game was over, it didn’t matter that Brienne lived in Tarth. That was what the internet was for. 

While most of the group seemed content to pretend that they weren’t all competing for a very expensive prize and acted like one big mostly happy family Arya knew that it was a feeling that would not last much longer so she kept mostly to herself and didn’t go out of her way to hang out with anyone. She was not the only one either. 

She spent most of her free time on the beach, either swimming in the warm blue water or running on the sand. Most of the others acted like she was crazy for choosing to exert herself when they weren’t doing a challenge but she didn’t want to run the risk of going soft even for a moment. Besides, she was used to pushing herself past the breaking point. Years of training with Syrio Forel had taught her that the limits she put on herself weren’t always what her real limits were. 

Arya bent at the waist and placed her hands on her knees as she fought to regain her breath. She was running on the compact wet sand by the waves and water rushed over her bare feet as her heartrate began to return to normal. 

“Haven’t you had enough running for today?” 

A deep baritone voice catches her attention and Arya straightened, looking over her shoulder at Gendry who was looking at her curiously, his blue shirt and the proximity to the water making his eyes look otherworldly. 

“No such thing as too much running.” Arya lied, repeating one of the many phrases Syrio had drilled into her head over the years. 

Gendry raised his brows at that but didn’t comment on it. They’d spent the morning of their fourth day on the island doing a long obstacle course and running themselves ragged. The rest of the competitors were lounging around on the beach close to the hut although Arya could see that a few of them had now moved to the water where they were splashing each other. The Yellow team of Brienne and Podrick seemed to be sitting a bit off from the others which Arya supposed wasn’t that big of surprise. They’d won the challenge and their second pyramid piece officially putting them in the lead. It was hard to pretend everyone was all friends when they were no longer all on even footing. 

“Is that why you joined the show?” Gendry asked curiously falling into step beside Arya uninvited when she started walking again. She sighed at the question and tried to pretend she didn’t see the cameraman matching their pace beside them. 

“Nope.” She popped the ‘p’ obnoxiously in the hopes he’ll take the hint to drop it. She hadn’t spent much time with Gendry, or really anyone now that she was thinking about it, but he seemed to keep mostly to himself not unlike her. He was the quiet sort so when he didn’t press her for more information on why she sighed up to spend potentially three weeks living in a hut with no electricity and a bunch of strangers and cameras shoved in her face she decided to return the favor and not ask him why he signed up. 

Besides it was probably for the money. 

It's what most of them were there for after all. 

When Arya could breathe freely again, she took a few grateful deep breaths before digging her feet into the sand and starting to run again. To her surprise Gendry joined her, keeping pace with her easily. 

To her much bigger surprise, she let him. 

The next day they had their first temple mission and the morning was spent in a tense silence. Arya couldn’t stand the mood in the hut and she pulled Tommen outside with her not long after everyone woke up. They spent the morning lounging under one of the trees and stretching their muscles that Arya figured were going to be sore until they left the island, and probably for a bit afterwards too. 

Red team won the temple mission although Green came extremely close. Purple team came in last so they were going to the temple no matter what and didn’t share the agony everyone else felt waiting to see who Daenerys and Jaqen would choose to send up with them. It came to no surprise to Arya when they sent Green. They were one of the strongest teams there, its who she would have sent. 

They were only allowed on a small stretch of beach at night so no one wandered too far and got hurt and they were expressively forbidden to go in the water after dark. Arya was too wired to sleep so she spent the time waiting for the returning team stretching and doing as many yoga poses as she could remember and later playing tic-tac-toe in the wet sand when Gendry joined her. She reminded herself yet again that she wasn't there to make friends but she needed a distraction and she couldn’t see how playing a few silent games in the sand were going to hurt anything. 

\---------------------------- 

The show is painting a narrative that Arya very much does not like and that everyone (including her own family) seems to be buying. 

According to the editing and the many confessionals and theories of her competitors that Arya had never heard a whisper of when she was actually on the island, Gendry and her were romantically involved. 

“They’re totally banging out there.” Dickon laughs, pulling his hat further down over his eyes as Arianne sequels and throws sand at him. 

“Gross! There’s a camera with them.” she rolls her eyes but she doesn’t look entirely unconvinced. 

“Some people are into that kind of thing.” Dickon says sagely before coughing as he gets a face full of sand from Grey and Arianne. 

Arya slumps lower in her seat and wonders if she will ever be able to sit through an episode without ending up in the fetal position or on the floor. She doesn’t want to see a single second more of herself on screen and the season isn’t even halfway over. 

“Aren’t you worried about your partners having some secret affair or alliance?” Daenerys asks, looking between Tommen and Roslin curiously. Roslin blushes red at the attention of everyone’s eyes on her and shakes her head with a squeak. Tommen leans back on his elbows and glares around at everyone but he has such a sweet face it was like being mewled at by a kitten. 

“Arya would never do that to me.” he says assuredly and he sounds so confident that Arya sits up straighter and feels some of the tension leave her shoulders. 

The screen cuts to the confessional booth and Tommen looks ragged, his hair ruffled like he’s been running his hands through it as he chews on his bottom lip. 

“I don’t know what’s going on. I trust Arya, I do, but what if the others are right? If her and Gendry are dating won’t she go easy on him during the challenges?” Tommen tugs on his hair and looks directly into the camera. “How am I supposed to win this game if my partner is distracted by someone else?” 

Arya sucks in a deep breath as the screen cuts to her and Gendry walking on the beach. She shoves his arm playfully and he laughs. Arya feels her heart lodge in her throat as she stares at the happy looks on their faces. She can’t even remember when this might have been filmed, she’d spent so much time with Gendry on the beach by the end. 

Tommen’s face appears on the screen again. “How am I supposed to play knowing the one ally I’m supposed to have here trusts someone more than me?” 

Arya slumps down to the floor as a commercial starts to play. Her family is talking over each other throwing questions at her, Theon begging not for the first (or last she was sure) time to tell him what happened during the game. She didn’t trust him to keep a secret and she wasn't about to shell out the exorbitant amount of money for breaking the NDA so no one in the family except Bran knows how the game ends for her. 

She buries her head in her arms and groans as Rickon pummels her lightly with a pillow until Nymeria yips at him and lays across Arya’s chest protectively. 

Her phone dings and Arya risks removing one arm from her face to dig it from her pocket and look at it halfheartedly. She’s expecting yet another bitchy tweet from a fan of the show or a tag from the official Endurance twitter for some promo or other but thankfully its neither. 

**Tommen Baratheon** @littlelionboy 

@lonewolf _sorry for being a dick to u on national tv_ 🙁 

**Arya Stark** @lonewolf 

_I deserved it. For the record I wouldn’t have gone easy on Gendry._

RT @littlelionboy 

She debates with the idea of tagging Gendry but chickens out at the last second. They haven’t spoken since the boat and she wasn’t about to break their silence over a tweet that wasn’t even directed at him. 

Arya tosses her phone beside her on the floor and buries her head in her arms. She hears the telltale sound of a photo being taken and she flips off the room at large. 

Her phone pings again and Arya tilts her head to glare at it before turning her glare on Theon who grins at her wickedly. 

**Theon Greyjoy** @thekracken 

@lonewolf _acts like watching #edurance is harder than filming it was_

Attached is a picture of her on the floor, hood and arms covering her face and Nymeria laying protectively over most of her body. 

There is still fifteen minutes of the episode left but Arya doesn’t bother to lift her head from her arms to watch it. She’s lived through this once, she doesn’t need to do it again. 

\---------------------------- 

With Val and Daario gone the hut felt bigger. It was probably the fact that there were now four empty beds but the lack of shouting matches certainly helped things too. 

As the days passed Arya found herself spending less time alone and more time with Gendry. She tried to get Tommen and Roslin to join them as well, it was still early enough in the game they could have an alliance with another team, but since the majority of what Arya and Gendry did was run and train the other two were not keen on the idea of joining them. 

“Arya my arms are literally jelly right now I’m not making my legs jelly too.” Tommen groaned, pressing his face into the sand as Arya tugged on his arm to try to get him to stand. 

“Fine.” Arya sighed in defeat, dropping Tommen’s hand and making to head down to the beach. His hand shot out and grabbed her ankle making her pause and look back down on him. 

“We just won our first challenge; can’t you take the day off from running and just like celebrate with me?” Tommen asked, lifting his head from the sand to peer up at her shyly. 

Arya huffed and rested her hands on her hips. “We have two pieces of the pyramid Tommen. We’re nowhere even close to celebrating.” 

Tommen groaned at the reminder and dropped his hand from her ankle, moving to rub his arms. Arya was sure they had to be burning as bad as hers were. For the first time she was grateful Tommen was her partner because she had such a height difference with all the other males that winning that day’s endurance challenge would have been impossible with any other partner. 

“We have to talk about who to give the Samadhi too.” Tommen reminded her softly after looking around to make sure no one was in earshot. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Arya asked, raising a brow at him before she crouched down to kneel beside him. The less chance of being overheard the better. “Red team. They came second today. They’re our strongest competition.” 

Tommen nodded thoughtfully and Arya made to stand up again before he whispered hesitatingly, “What about the Blue team?” 

Arya rocked back on her heels as if he had slapped her before she caught herself and fixed her face into a stoic mask. It wasn’t unheard of for Tommen to suggest Blue but Arya still couldn’t help but feel a sting of betrayal. Blue was Gendry’s team. Gendry was the only person on the island who made her feel calm, let her forget about the stress of the game. She knew he was her competition and she had fought hard over the last three days to keep him at arm's length but at some point as they’d walked and ran around the island she’d found herself (against all of her better judgement) thinking that while they could not be friends, they could at least be allies. 

“Blue team isn’t a threat.” Arya told Tommen firmly, hoping that he couldn’t see the way her heart was pounding frantically in her chest. She should have known better than to get close to Gendry, she’d been telling herself since the beginning to not form bounds with anyone and look what she’d done. She and Gendry didn’t even really talk, they just ran. Well except for the night before. 

Their conversation from the night before filled her mind and Arya could swear she still felt Gendry’s eyes heavy on hers as he whispered, “You.” 

She’d been his first choice of partner, the person he’d wanted to play this game with. The person he wanted to try to fight until the end with. Arya could still feel the sting of ranking sixth in choices with the others. Somehow it lessened knowing that Gendry had wanted her. 

Arya had never been someone’s first choice before. 

Tommen stared up at her in silence for a long moment before he gave one single curt nod. “Red team it is then.” 

\---------------------------- 

Arya had given her all to every single challenge and minute on Endurance to prove to herself and her aunt and everyone watching that she was tough and strong and that people needed to stop underestimating her. 

And then the producers and the editors just wash all her hard work away. 

Her and Gendry are everywhere. There are clips of them in every promo, the episodes spend an exorbitant amount of time on the other competitors speculating about what they were up too. At this point the majority of what Gendry and Arya did was run or stretch so there wasn’t much for the show to build on but every single laugh they’d shared or short conversation they had seems to make it onto the TV. Arya is pretty sure some of the things they air happened way later during the filming but the editors didn’t seem to care too much for ‘reality’ on this reality show. 

Part of her doesn’t want to keep watching, doesn’t want to see the image of her the show is painting quite well. She knows why they’re doing it of course; the ratings were greater than they’d ever been and she knows that in a few short weeks they’ll go even higher but that doesn’t mean she has to be okay with it. 

She spends the next Thursday slumped on the floor of her parents’ living room and throwing pillows at anyone who asks her questions. The week before she’d watched the episode at home, watching Green team get sent home curled in her bed around her laptop with a bottle of gin and cringing at every wild confessional about how her and Gendry were fucking. It had been somehow worse to watch it alone. 

Watching the show, she finally begins to understand how what happened next came to being. It had blindsided her at the time but in retrospect it really shouldn’t have. Now that she can see all of the times the other teams talked badly about her, how they worried about Gendry and Arya’s supposed alliance, how close they’d come to sending Gray team to the temple instead of Green, now she is no longer at all surprised about what happened. In a way it almost feels like relief to know. 

Daenerys and Jaqen cheer and hug each other on screen as they win the latest endurance mission. Tom passes them their pyramid piece and the Samadhi. The screen cuts to Tommen shifting nervously and Arya standing stoically beside him before panning out to show the remaining players standing in a half circle around Tom, Jaqen and Daenerys. 

Close up on Daenerys who breaks the clay urn on the floor and digs the thick piece of cardstock out of the rubble. Her eyebrows raise as she reads it, Jaqen looking smug beside her, before she reads out, her voice carrying easily. “This card gives you the power to switch any two players on any two teams.” 

The shot pans down the shocked faces of the group and Arya watches the TV in boredom before she sucks in a breath of surprise as she watches Gendry’s eyes shift to her immediately before the screen cuts to black. 

\---------------------------- 

She didn’t let herself be nervous about the Red team’s Samadhi, she didn’t see the point. They were going to switch whoever they wanted to switch and the only thing Arya could hope for was that they didn’t decide to make her be partners with Dickon, anyone else she could handle. It was hard for her to fall asleep that evening because the thought that there was now a chance that she could be partners with Gendry consumed her and she spent hours staring up at the stars and trying not to think about the fact that as partners her and Gendry would be unstoppable. 

It had come up on their run because of course it did. This was going to affect all of them no matter who Red switched. 

“Do you want them to switch you?” Gendry asked softly as they ran, mindful of the cameraman at their backs. This cameraman didn’t run beside them like some of the others did hoping to catch a juicy bit on camera, they had their micpacks on still but hopefully they were far enough out of range their conversation wouldn’t be picked up. 

“Doesn’t matter what I want.” Arya insisted, hoping that if she said it forcefully enough, she would start to believe it herself. “I’m not going to ask them to switch me so it's out of my hands.” 

She could feel Gendry’s gaze on her from the corner of her eye and worried about the fact that he was going to trip and hurt himself she came to a stop, turning to face him with her hands on her hips as she snapped exasperatedly, “What?” 

“Nothing.” Gendry’s eyes narrowed as he shook his head at her. 

“Clearly it's not.” Arya huffed mindful of the cameraman quickly approaching them, drawn to their unfolding drama like a moth to a flame. 

“Nothing Arya.” A shiver ran up her spine at the sound of her name from his mouth and Arya crossed her arms in annoyance at herself as Gendry backed up from her as the camera came to a stop a few feet from them. “If you want to keep playing the game this way be my guest.” 

He took off running as Arya gaped after him in confusion. “In what way?” she called after him but he ignored her and kept running. Arya cursed and took of sprinting, ignoring the puffing of the cameraman behind her as she shouted in annoyance, “Gendry what way?!” 

The next day the teams lined up on the beach for the next temple mission looking wearily at the towering pully structure beside them. Hanging over all of them was the knowledge that they might not be playing this game with the person currently standing beside them. Tommen was shifting uneasily beside Arya and she reached over to squeeze his arm in comfort. He looked up at her with wide eyes at the contact as Tom called the Red team to the front. 

“Have you decided who you will be switching?” he asked jovially, no doubt hoping to stir up some drama. 

“We have.” Jaqen nodded, seeming content to leave the rest of them in anticipation. 

“Let’s hear it!” Tom cried, clapping his hands together. 

“We have decided,” Daenerys began, looking down the line at each of them in turn. Arya narrowed her eyes at the older woman, already sick of how dragged out this was going. She knew that the producers had likely encouraged them to stretch the moment out but still, this was getting out of hand. Arya was so distracted by her own inner ramblings that she almost missed what Daenerys said next. 

“We’ve decided to switch Tommen to the Blue team and Gendry to Gray.” 

\---------------------------- 

Watching the team change on TV didn’t feel nearly as shocking as it had felt in person but of course Arya has spent the last half-hour watching Jaqen and Daenerys debate over who to switch. She is not the least bit pleased to learn that they’d made their decision because they thought Gendry and her would be too busy ‘making mooning eyes’ at each other to be any kind of competition. 

She grits her teeth in annoyance when Jaqen says as much in confessional but as she watches the team switch and listens halfheartedly to her family’s cheers and confusion, a weight lifts off her shoulders. She had never really thought that Gendry had anything to do with the switch, he didn’t seem like the type of person who would ask for such a favor, but now that she truly knows that he wasn’t behind it Arya can relax pieces of herself she hadn’t realized were still tense. 

Her phone buzzes on the floor beside her and Arya grabs it in an effort to ignore Theon’s latest bit of begging to tell her who won the show. 

**Gendry Waters** @bullheadedwaters 

_My sisters just screeched loud enough to break my eardrums. Pretty sure they like_ @lonewolf _more than they like me_

\---------------------------- 

Arya could feel her pulse pounding in her temples as Tommen hugged her briefly before walking over to where Roslin stood looking not even slightly surprised to find her partner changed. Arya found herself unable to look at Gendry as he stood beside her and they listened to Tom explain the rules of the challenge. She was still confused as to what he’d been annoyed with her about the night before and now they were partners. Her mind was reeling and she could barely focus on the fact that her partner had just changed let alone on the rules of a game that might end with them both being sent home that night. 

“You must be excited.” she finally found her voice as they strapped themselves into harnesses. “Finally got your first choice.” 

She couldn’t help but wonder if Gendry had something to do with the switch, if he had asked the Red team to do him a favor. She couldn’t imagine that he would have anything to offer the team in trade so she quickly shoved the thought from her head. Besides, Gendry wouldn’t do that without telling her first. 

“I’m more nervous actually.” Gendry admitted causing Arya to look up at him in surprise. Dimly she wondered if their severe height difference was going to hinder them but the earnest look in his eyes knocked the thought from her mind. There was no way he’d gone behind her back to conspire with anyone, she’d be able to read it in those wide blue eyes of his. They’d barely known each other for a week and had only really had a handful of meaningful conversations and yet Arya still felt like she could read him like a book. 

“I can’t imagine the Red team did this to do us any favors.” he whispered, voicing one of Arya’s own concerns. She made a noise of agreement and accepted his offered hand to help her up to the platform. 

If the Red team had put them together in an attempt to make them weaker than it had blown up in their faces spectacularly. 

Arya and Tommen had worked well together but it had always felt like just that, work. 

Arya and Gendry? They were a whole other story. 

They moved together like two pieces of well-oiled machinery. Arya didn’t even have to think to work with him, all she had to do was react. It was like Gendry could read her mind, like he could anticipate her every action before she’d even thought of it. They won the temple mission easily, much faster than anyone could have anticipated. Arya caught sight of the sick look on Jaqen’s face as Arya and Gendry hugged in the middle of the ropes, both of them panting from exertion. 

Whatever the Red team’s plan had been, it backfired. 

Arya and Gendry were going to be their biggest threat. 

\---------------------------- 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us your partner got switched.” Jon grumbles over the speaker as Arya rolls her eyes while Theon and Robb yell agreements at the phone. 

“She told me.” Bran laughs as their brothers turn to him in outrage before turning glares onto Arya. 

“Did you tell him who wins?” Theon asks, his voice low in a way he probably thinks makes him sound dangerous but Arya thinks makes him sound like he has a bad cold. 

Arya leans back and crosses her arms behind her head. “What makes you so sure I even know who wins?” 

Robb and Theon exchange a loaded look before falling to their knees in front of her full on beginning her to tell them the outcome of the game. 

Arya just laughs at them and tries to ignore the pain in her chest at the memory. 

\---------------------------- 

They sent the Red team to the temple to face off with Orange, it was barely even a discussion. 

Neither of them wanted to be in the hut with the others shooting pointed looks at them so when Gendry heads down to the water Arya followed him without a second thought. 

“Are you happy?” Gendry asked suddenly as they waded into the waves, the water blissfully cold compared to the heat of the island. 

She considered playing ignorant about what he was asking but Arya had never been very good at playing dumb. She casted a look over her shoulder at the camera and bits her lip, knowing full well that whatever she said next was sure to be aired. She had to choose her words carefully if she wanted to avoid hurting Tommen’s feelings. He had been a good partner to her after all, she wasn’t going to risk saying anything dickish about him now. 

“I am.” Arya admitted on a whisper, leading Gendry further out into the waves in the hopes that the sound would drown out her voice on the mic. “Tommen was a great partner but now...” she trailed off and shrugged, looking up at Gendry who nodded at her thoughtfully. Arya felt a surge of relief that she didn’t need to say what she was thinking, that he could pick up on it so easily. 

Now she might actually stand a chance to win. 

That night when Red team returned from the temple Arya pretended not to notice their glares. She goes to sit beside Gendry in the sand, sitting close enough to him that her knee bumped his thigh as she leaned to whisper in his ear, “If they weren’t gunning for us before they will now.” 

Gendry patted her shin in comfort and she didn’t notice until minutes later that he hadn’t move his hand away. 

They spend the next day on the beach again, more at home there than in the hut avoiding everyone else’s glances. Arya still didn’t understand what she had done to make everyone look at her that way, it wasn’t like she had asked the Red team to switch her partner. She tried to tell herself that they were just jealous that her and Gendry turned out to be a stronger team than they had been expecting but she knew that wasn’t it. The truth was she knew why they are all glaring at her and Gendry and talking behind their backs, she’d known for a while she was just trying hard to ignore it. 

While romance was not forbidden on Endurance it was highly frowned upon by the contestants. The producers ate it up, had used it several times over past seasons to show why certain strong teams had met their downfall. Romance on reality TV never ended well. 

Arya had been suspecting for a few days now that the other contestants thought her and Gendry were romantically linked but the thought was so absurd to her that she didn’t do anything to dispel the notion. Now she was beginning to wish that she had because she felt like she couldn’t go anywhere without someone glaring at her and she knew that there was no point trying to convince anyone of her and Gendry’s lack of romance. Anything she said now would sound like a lie. 

They had the day off to rest and let their bodies heal from the past two weeks of challenges and work. Arya stretched out on her stomach in the sand and buried her head in her arms, trying to squeeze in a nap before she raced Gendry down the beach again. He was lying beside her and Arya peeked one eye open to watch him quietly as he crossed his arms over his face to block out the sun, the muscles in his arm rippling as he did so. 

The sight made Arya’s throat suddenly go dry and she squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face back into her arms. She had signed up for the show to show her aunt Lysa how tough she was, and herself too while she was at it. She had certainly not come onto this show to make friends or anything more. It didn’t matter that looking at Gendry made her breath catch in her throat or her stomach and heart do flips like they were amateur acrobats. 

Arya suddenly pushed up to her feet, taking off running before Gendry had even sat up. She had a game to concentrate on and she couldn’t let anything distract her from that. 

Not even her handsome quiet partner who seemed to know her better than she knew herself because for the first time since he’d joined her runs this time when she took off, Gendry let her run alone. 

\---------------------------- 

The next episode shows the endurance mission that Arya and Gendry win, earning them the friendship pyramid piece. Arya flushes as she watches them hug on screen and spins her phone in her hands and tries yet again to think up a response to the tweet Gendry had tagged her in last week. 

She doesn’t know what to say to him, hasn’t known for months. She can still remember the way his arms felt around her, how he’d rested his chin on the top of her head as the boat swayed underneath their feet. 

She still remembers everything about him; every story he told her, every smile she’d won. The way his ears flushed red when he was embarrassed or angry, the way his brows pinched up when he was thinking. The way his lips- 

Arya shakes her head to cut that line of thinking off as she scoffs at the screen. It's her and Gendry, because of course it is. At this point they get more screen time than anyone else. 

They’re on the beach like usual and they are both piling sand on Arya’s legs. (She’d complained that she was getting sunburned again and Gendry had decided that rather than go inside or find shade they would use the sand to combat the sun’s rays. It did not work.) They are silent on the screen except for the moving of the sand until Gendry speaks suddenly, making Arya look up at him with wide eyes. 

“You should come to King’s Landing sometime.” he doesn’t look up even though he can surely feel Arya’s eyes boring into the side of his head as he moves a handful of sand onto her thighs. 

For a moment when he’d said that to her Arya had forgotten where they were. She had forgotten the game and the expectations, the pressure and the exhaustion. Most importantly, for two blissful seconds she’d forgotten the cameras. 

So, when her lips stretch into a silly lovesick smile on their own accord Arya didn’t immediately bite it back. And of course, the cameras catch it. 

Of course, they air it. 

Arya is beginning to wonder if maybe this romance angel the show has been painting this whole time isn’t as contrived as she’d first thought. 

\---------------------------- 

They fought hard but, in the end, they didn’t win the temple mission. To make matters worse the Red team did. There was no doubt in either her or Gendry’s minds that they wouldn’t get sent to battle the Blue team in the temple that evening. Arya barely resisted the urge to pack when they returned to the hut. She would wait for the Red team to announce it, make it official. 

After changing into dry clothes, she led Gendry further down the beach, the sand so warm it almost felt like it was burning her bare feet. She darted into the water and sighed gratefully at the coolness. Gendry rolled his eyes but he was smiling at her fondly so Arya beamed up at him, nudging his arm lightly with her own. 

“What are you going to do with your winnings?” She asked, forcing cheer into her voice. She knew that they might be going home that night depending on how things went in the temple but dwelling on that wasn’t going to do either of them any good. Might as well make plans for money they didn’t have yet instead, at least that would put them into a better mood. Besides, they’d never actually talked about it and now Arya was curious. She’d found herself wanting to know everything about Gendry but there were questions she didn’t want to ask him on camera. She wanted to get to know him when he didn’t have to guard his every response against outside ears. She wanted his words to be meant for her and her alone. 

“Pay off my student loans.” Gendry replied automatically, kicking the waves lightly. “Save for my little sister’s braces.” 

Arya’s heart skipped at the answer, she’d known Gendry was too practical to want to blow the money on a vacation or a fancy car but hearing it still made her look at him even more fondly. She was walking a dangerous tightrope when it came to Gendry and despite how wonderful her balance was Arya had a feeling she wasn’t the only factor in whether or not she fell. 

“Those are good plans. I’ll make sure we win so that you can do that.” Arya reached out and grabbed Gendry’s hand pulling him to a stop so that she could look into his eyes as she whispered, “I promise.” 

The temple was excruciating. 

Red team sent them to face off against their former teammates just like they’d been expecting. It was all of their first time at the temple and the sky stretched endless above them as they played what was basically a big game of rock, paper, scissors. 

Luck was more on Gray team’s side that night and they won. Still, it didn’t feel like winning when she hugged Tommen goodbye. Arya reminded herself that this meant they were now one step closer to being the final team, one step closer to winning the prize money and keeping her promise to Gendry. Even knowing all of that it was hard not to feel guilty as they watched Tommen and Roslin head out the furthest side of the temple to the production crew who would take them off the island. They had helped Arya and Gendry get through the first half of the game; it wasn’t easy watching them leave. 

The walk back from the temple was silent and Arya tried to remind herself that they were now in the final three. Still she felt a strange sense of melancholy settle over her and she wasn’t sure if it was because her first ally in this game was now gone or because in less than a week her and Gendry would have left the island, one way or another. 

They would be on separate sides of the country, back to their lives and day to day responsibilities. Back to the mundaneness of expectations and rules and comforts. 

Arya was so lost in her thoughts she almost didn’t notice the brush against the back of her hand. After a second time Arya noticed and she looked down to see Gendry’s hand lightly brushing hers. It was a new moon and it was nearly pitch black out, even the light of the stars covered by clouds. Arya bumped her fingers against Gendry’s as they turned a corner of the path, threading their fingers together for a moment as they listened to the cameraman’s footsteps catch up to them, both of them letting go at he turned onto their part of the path. 

\---------------------------- 

For all her supposed toughness Arya is beginning to realize she is not nearly as tough as she thought. If she was she wouldn’t be so damn scared to send a message to Gendry, to reach out to him after months of silence. 

She spends the next two weeks chewing on her bottom lip and watching Blue team get sent home and leave their pyramid piece to Gray and the last endurance mission where Yellow team crushed all of them all while trying to think of something to say to Gendry that would encompass all she wants to say. That she’s sorry, that she misses him. That she thinks about him all the time like he’s a song that’s been stuck in her head for sixth months. 

She tells herself she doesn’t send a message because she can’t find the words but deep-down Arya knows it's because she can’t find the courage. 

\---------------------------- 

Arya’s stomach probably resembled a pretzel it was so twisted up with nerves as they fought for the chance to be in the final two. The team that lost this challenge would go home and the remaining two would battle it out tomorrow to see who would win 100k gold dragons. 

Arya kept her eyes on the beam she was walking, a bucket of rubber balls resting on her head. She tried to tell herself the nerves were just from the game but she was getting sick of lying to herself. She was nervous about not getting to see Gendry anymore. Of not getting to wake up and see him sleeping in the bunk across from hers. She had gotten used to spending every moment of the day with him and soon she would no longer get to do that. 

She tried to tell herself that they would still talk after they leave the island, because of course they will. Why wouldn’t they? But somehow, she could feel that it wouldn’t be quite the same. Arya loved the internet and texting and everything but she was her best self in person, her real self. She didn’t translate as well to written word, she was a person who needed to see the other person’s face, to hear the inflictions of their voice. She wanted to be able to look Gendry in the eye when she spoke to him. Wanted to see the look on his face when she told him all the worst things about herself. Arya wasn’t sure what was going on between them, if there really was a spark or if their emotions were fueled by the pressure and the island. 

All she knew was that she wanted to find out. 

Tom blew the whistle announcing that Yellow and Gray had both completed the challenge and would now face off for winner. Arya dropped the bucket from her head and leaped at Gendry in excitement. Her force caught them both off guard and they toppled over into the water. 

Elation was racing through her and Arya opened her eyes, blinking at the sting of the saltwater. Gendry was right in front of her and to her surprise his eyes were open as well, watching her. Arya smiled at him and swam closer, their noses brushing as they both fought to stay under the water and not float up to the surface. 

Gendry’s eyes felt as bottomless as the ocean they were in and Arya didn’t think as she reached up to curl her fingers into the collar of his shirt. His eyes widened slightly but Gendry must have realized what she had because he leaned in at the same time, his lips soft on hers careful not to move his lips too much and let water into their mouths. 

Under the surface there were no cameras, no outside eyes. There was no one under the water but them. For the first time since they stepped onto the boat Arya and Gendry were truly, completely alone. 

It was hard to sleep in the hut that night with so many empty beds. The four of them decided the best way to combat that feeling was to drag their sleeping bags out onto the sand and sleep underneath the stars. Arya was grateful Yellow was the other team left. She’d always been fond of Brienne and Podrick was nice, if a little quiet. Arya wasn’t going to blame him for that of course, she wasn’t exactly known as being a chatterbox here. 

The camera crew had all gone home for the evening and there were only a few cameras on the outside of the hut. It was easy enough to walk down the beach until they were out of sight and spread their sleeping bags on the sand. Arya placed hers directly next to Gendry’s and she liked Podrick and Brienne even more when they didn’t comment on the fact that she rested her head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her back. 

The four of them spent the night whispering secrets and fears, hopes and dreams into the dark, their micpacks abandoned in the empty hut. 

\---------------------------- 

The ratings for the season are through the roof, reportedly the best they’ve ever been. Arya isn’t surprised when the network decides to throw a big season finale watch party in King’s Landing although she is slightly surprised that they pay to fly all the former contestants out to it. 

She spends the whole flight fidgeting nervously in her seat and driving her seatmates up the wall. She feels bad about it but not bad enough to stop. 

It’s the first time she’s seen anyone from the show since filming and when she gets to the club the network has rented out for the evening Arya breathes out a sigh of relief that the first face she sees is Brienne’s. 

She looses herself in hellos and quick catch up conversations, even listens to Dickon’s apology for all the shit he talked about her and Gendry in confessional. He follows it up with “You two have banged since the show right?” so his apology skills still need a lot of work. 

Arya wanders the surprisingly large crowd taking photos with fans of the show and smiling coyly at them when they beg her to tell her who won. She tries to get herself to be present and in the moment but she can’t stop her eyes from darting to the door every time it opens. 

The episode has already started by the time he arrives. 

Tearing her eyes from the huge screen Arya watches Gendry come into the room shyly, looking clean and sharp in a black leather jacket and black jeans. He’s wearing a gray t-shirt and Arya pulls self-consciously on the sleeves of her gray sweater. They look like a matching set, just like they’re supposed to. 

There’s an empty seat next to her that everyone left vacant just for him and Arya forces herself to look back at the screen as Gendry slips onto the stool beside her. She pretends to be fascinated by the action on screen, as if she hasn’t already lived through it and knows exactly what’s about to happen. They’ve just finished competing for Red team’s pyramid pieces with Yellow team coming out with three and Gray with one. On screen both the teams are packing in the hut and Arya is shoving a blue shirt that is definitely not hers into her bag as Gendry tries halfheartedly to steal it back. 

She can’t stop herself from sneaking a peek at him from the corner of her eye, somehow not at all surprised to find his eyes already on her. She flushes and darts her gaze forward again as she tries to decipher the expression on his face. He hadn’t looked bitter or even angry like she’d been expecting. He just looked confused. 

Arya curls her hands into fists as the show comes back from commercial and shows the two final teams making the trek to the temple for one last challenge. 

\---------------------------- 

Thanks to the pieces their former teammates left them and from their own hardwork they went into the final challenge with nine pieces to Yellow’s seven. The game that followed was long and tense and brutal, one round they would have twelve pieces in their hands and the next round they would have three. It was all a matter of luck with very little skill to guess where the golden pyramid was hidden. 

Arya’s heart was in her throat and she felt seconds away from throwing up. She just wanted it to be over. She wanted them to win so that she could keep her promise to Gendry and see him happy. He’d joined this show for the money after all, she was the only one who’d joined to prove something to herself. She didn’t know which one of them wanted them to win more, her or Gendry. If they won, she still had no idea what she would do with the money, use it, donate it, buy her parents something ridiculous as a thank you for paying for her school (or maybe just pay for her last year of school herself). Arya didn’t want to plan for it until she had it in her hands and she was privileged enough that she didn’t need to. She knew that Gendry wasn’t and she wanted him to win so badly it hurt. 

Two rounds later and the hands (or in this case pyramids) were flipped in Yellow’s favor. Gray team was left with one piece that they clutched in both of their hands as they tried to pick where to put it. 

“I think we should put it here.” Gendry said, removing one hand to tap at the pyramid on the far right. 

Arya frowned down at it, that was the one that had just had the golden pyramid under it. “It was just there.” she whispered, anxiety making her lightheaded. 

“I have a good feeling about it.” he insisted softly, taking his hand off the table to put it back on hers under the guise of holding the piece in their hands. He squeezed her fingers lightly and Arya was tempted to say yes and trust his gut but the fact that it had just been the golden pyramid nagged at her mind. 

Slowly she shook her head, looking up at Gendry. “It's not that one.” 

Gendry furrowed his brow at her, “Are you sure?” 

“Positive.” Arya nodded once, confident. Gendry nodded reluctantly and chose a spot in the middle instead. Arya moved to place their last piece there but before she could Gendry leaned down and kissed the pile of their hands, his lips featherlight against the back of her hand. They left their piece, Heart, on the table and Arya decided to forget the cameras, turning and wrapping her arms around Gendry’s waist. He pulled her to his side tightly, his heart hammering in her ear as he rested his chin on the top of her head. 

Yellow team filled out their pieces and the pyramids began to flip. Arya held her breath and kept her eyes on the pyramid in front of their piece and it was so far from the pyramid that did end up having the gold that when it first flipped she only noticed where it was because of the way Gendry’s entire body tightened under her arms. 

The far right spot. The pyramid that had just had the golden piece underneath it. The one Gendry had wanted to play until Arya had talked him out of it. 

Tom was congratulating the Yellow team on their win and by the time he turned to address the Gray team Gendry had already pushed out of Arya’s arms and slipped away. 

She tried to apologize that night when they boarded the boat for the main land. She tried to apologize on the way to the boat but she hadn’t managed to find the words. The words she did find on the boat turned out to not even be the right ones because Gendry had just scoffed at her apology. 

“We would have won if you could just trust someone else.” Gendry snapped before turning away and going to stand at the edge of the stern. Arya huddled down into her seat, brushing tears off of her face and feeling grateful yet again that there were no cameras making the journey home with them. 

\---------------------------- 

Gendry slips out of his seat silently after the second round of the pyramids flip. Arya watches him go but she seems to be the only one who notices his departure, everyone else paying rapt attention to the screen. 

Taking a deep breath Arya stands and slinks away as well. She already lived through the events of the show, she doesn’t need to see them lose again. Living through it once was bad enough thank you very much. 

Part of her is afraid that Gendry will already be gone by the time she gets outside so she can’t stop the sigh of relief when she finds him sitting on the bench near the curb. Gendry turns his head at the sound and he gives her a pained look like he had meant to smile but then halfway through forgot how. 

Arya shoves her hands in her pockets as she slowly walks around the bench until she is standing beside him. She shrugs nervously as she speaks, “I finally made it to King’s Landing. Took the long road but...” Arya trails off and let her unspoken words hang between them, she hadn’t known if he would want her to come. She hadn’t known if he would want anything to do with her anymore. 

“I’m sorry.” Gendry says looking up at her with eyes no television screen did justice to the color of. 

“What are you sorry for?” Arya can’t help but ask curiously. She was the reason they lost after all. 

“I never should have snapped at you on the boat. It was a game of chance. It wasn’t your fault we lost.” Gendry admits softly, his eyes earnest on hers. 

Arya sits down heavily beside him, his words lifting a crushing weight that had been holding her down since that night on the boat. She had spent the last few months thinking he hated her and blamed her and now he was telling her it wasn’t her fault. No words had ever sounded sweeter. 

“I was terrified of you on the island.” Arya whispers suddenly, surprising both of them. She blushes but now that the words have come to her, she forces them out in a rush, afraid they are going to leave again. “Of the way you make me feel.” 

“How do I make you feel?” Gendry asks softly, scooting slightly closer, their thighs bumping. 

Arya looks at him, his blue eyes burning into her gray ones as she admits, “Understood, safe, noticed.” she swallows as she whispers on a breath the thing that made her feelings start in the first place, “Like I’m your first choice.” 

“You are still my first choice Arya.” Gendry whispers after a pause, his hand coming to rest lightly on her knee. “You always were.” 

Arya doesn’t let herself overthink anything else, not the game, not their loss, not the time and distance that’s passed. She just leans in. 

She’s not at all surprised when Gendry meets her halfway. Just like on the island he knows where she’s going to be before she even does. 

**Dickon Tarly** @dicktarly 

_Fucking called it._ @lonewolf @bullheadedwaters 

Attached is a picture of Arya and Gendry sitting on a bench on a dark city street, her hands curled around his arms and his hands tangled in her hair. They aren’t kissing but their mouths are only a hairsbreadth apart and it's clear that they either just were or are just about to. 

**Arya Stark** @lonewolf 

_Why can’t I ever escape cameras when I’m with you?_ @bullheadedwaters 

**Gendry Waters** @bullheadedwaters 

_I can think of at least one time you did_

RT @lonewolf 

**Arya Stark** @lonewolf 

_You do realize_ @dicktarly _is going to take that as proof we had sex on the island right?_

RT @bullheadedwaters 

**Gendry Waters** @bullheadedwaters 

_Oh fuck. I’m gonna go delete that._

RT @lonewolf 

**Theon Greyjoy** @thekracken 

_Too late my friend, the internet is forever._

RT @bullheadedwaters 

**Dickon Tarly** @dicktarly 

_I repeat, fucking called it._

**Arya Stark** @lonewolf 

_Oh look at that the shows over and I don’t have to contractually follow you anymore. Bye_ @dicktarly 

**Sansa Stark** @littlebird 

@lonewolf _Only you could go on a version of watered-down Survivor and leave with a boyfriend._

**Arya Stark** @lonewolf 

_Shut up Sansa. Also everyone stop tagging me in your sex jokes. Tag me in your memes instead._

**Gendry Waters** @bullheadedwaters 

@lonewolf _and I might have lost the money but we were still winners in the end._

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [lumierelalune](https://lumierelalune.tumblr.com/)


End file.
